Don’t miss the little green belt !

Dedicated to freight traffic and passenger transportation, the « small belt » (la petite ceinture) was a 32-kilometer railway that once enabled to travel around Paris. Nevertheless, due to the emergence of the metropolitan, which was more in connection with geographical expectations, the train stations of the small belt closed their doors in 1934. Abandoned to its own fate, this place is having a second breath these days, thanks to the curious people who come here to smell the smells of the past.

Indeed, despite the fact that pedestrian access is still officially forbidden , urban explorers and graffiti artists easily skip the gates to venture onto the old rails. Fortunately, the city council of Paris is currently thinking of redeveloping the « small blet » into footpaths, bars, bicycle paths or urban gardens. By the way, an old station has recently been transformed into a concert wonderful café : La Recyclerie (http://www.larecyclerie.com). In the Little Belt, every turn is a surprising discovery and a wide range of emotions: Crossing a dark tunnel for 20 minutes will end up falling on a group of street artists or friends celebrating a birthday around a barbecue with beers.

If you are a little bit adventurer, do not hesitate any more, this corner of Paris is made for you! Using the map shown below, we set out to find « La Petite Ceinture » in Parc des Buttes-Chaumount, which is accessible from the Buttes-Chaumont Metro stop. Once in the park, it does not take long to find the railway, which is set at the bottom of a ravine and is shielded on either side by groves of trees (GPS coordinates: 48.88147, 2.38597)…